"The Exodus" article that you cited points to a number of factors leading to decreases in construction and service jobs. I have a friend that works in demo who has had to lay off a number of Hispanic employees over the last year as a result of the sluggish economy.

The article also states that only those with a record are being deported.

People come to the US for jobs -- times are tough, jobs are limited.

Do the math.

Like I've said consistently, I have no doubt that Hispanics are feeling a crunch. All I said was, "However, I'm not witnessing a mass exodus of Hispanic peoples, nor have I noticed a major crackdown -- not in the news or on the streets. Not here in the Piedmont anyway."

I guess it depends on your interpretation of the words "mass" and "major." Ya, we're delving into semantics now but you cite deportation numbers from across the country and try to pass them off as having a significance to the Triad. A couple hundred or even thousand deportations is not substantial or surprising. When tens of thousands of Hispanics are sent packing then I might buy into your paranoia, but in a state that's home to approx. 585,000 Hispanic/Latino people, those numbers hardly make a dent.

Even if thousands have left, it still wouldn't be the ghost town that you suggest.

Again, I have no doubt that Hispanics are discouraged by the current economic and political climate. It also wouldn't surprise me if quite a few have packed their bags and left. But to act like the state is almost devoid of a Hispanic population is just plain laughable. No disrespect intended.

As for your "impressions," they're just that. There are still hundreds of thousands of Hispanics making it happen (so to speak) here in NC.

Thanks, ls650. The comments at the end of the article are very disturbing. My original post was more about HB visas not getting renewed and police stops as a Quebecer, but I think the scapegoating of Latinos is horrific.

Well, we went to a local church this Sunday, and that was eye-opening. I really have been wondering how so many people here call themselves Christians but espouse very un-Christian-like points of view, but I compared it to the Christians I know of my childhood who would have their children baptised while running the local mafia on the side. What we saw this week, however, was truly surprising.

There wasn't an overall religion mentioned, just simply Such-and-Such Church. From the outside, I recognised the building as a church or religious meeting place, but the inside was more like a convention centre. The service seemed to have been sponsored by Starbucks and Harley-Davidson, as there was coffee with the name prominently displayed at the door, and two enormous motorcycles on the stage/altar. An orchestra was playing very loud and rocking music and some sort of light show was going on.

I was quickly advised to take my daughter to the children's church in another part of the building. Well, I didn't want to leave her there -- there was a large, heavily-muscled man screaming whilst busting baseball bats on his legs and breaking bricks with his head. A few children were terrified, but most were cheering raucously. He handed a frying pan that he had curled up to a child after creating a frenzy over who would catch it should he launch it into the audience. At the end of the hour, he raced through some speech about a biblical passage, though he was so hoarse, I couldn't say for sure. I thought my daughter would never want to go to another ''church'' again, but she came out saying that she had loved it.

Two thoughts on all of this - first is that the news, by definition, only reports abnormal life. As GK Chesterton said, they do not say things like, "Mr. Johnson is still alive." and "Jimmy Miller went to work for the first time today...". What DVN said is what he sees. Normal life. What you guys are reacting to is abnormal life, which the news media love to put in the most shocking manner possible, to exaggerate whatever is there and make it abnormal. Now bad, unjust things may really happen to these people. But DVN is right insofar as they really are not happening to most. The news won't report that.

The second is on Vanica's perception of Christianity in America. That religion is 2,000 years old, but nowhere has it changed so quickly in all of its history than in the last 50 years, particularly in the US. It ought to be obvious to someone that thinks that the original and traditional character of the religion CAN'T be like what you see today. It never would have spread or taken root if it were. (I happen to know that there are forms of that religion that eschew your experience of it and would join you in condemning what you have seen. Loudly. I'm part of one. (Hint - it's big in Russia.) )

What DVN said is what he sees. Normal life. What you guys are reacting to is abnormal life, which the news media love to put in the most shocking manner possible, to exaggerate whatever is there and make it abnormal. Now bad, unjust things may really happen to these people. But DVN is right insofar as they really are not happening to most. The news won't report that.

I guess you didn't see the earlier post. I really have been stopped by the police. I really have been refused apartment rentals because I of my accent. I really am being discriminated against.

What DVN said is what he sees. Normal life. What you guys are reacting to is abnormal life, which the news media love to put in the most shocking manner possible, to exaggerate whatever is there and make it abnormal. Now bad, unjust things may really happen to these people. But DVN is right insofar as they really are not happening to most. The news won't report that.

I guess you didn't see the earlier post. I really have been stopped by the police. I really have been refused apartment rentals because I of my accent. I really am being discriminated against.

Have you been wrongly imprisoned, for no reason at all other than that the cops wanted your money?
I'm not a stranger to it. But it isn't the whole story of my life.

Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 10:52 pm Post subject: If you need to go to a supermarket, go to Lowe's

It's nice that they employ people of different abilities. I don't know if it is all the branches, but the young man who bagged my groceries had Down's syndrome and he showed me how to sign ''thank you'' and ''you're welcome.'' I already forgot the latter, but I'll be back and hopefully have a second chance to relearn it. Another employee at Lowe's and one at Target were wheelchair-bound. By contrast, my friend in Paris is regularly told by people in the street that she had better commit her autistic five-year old to an institution.